


You Are My Sunshine (And I Am Your Skeletal Cat)

by notsowriterly



Series: Percy Jackson Tumblr Reposts [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Soulmate AU, Weddings, and a tiny bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-18
Updated: 2015-11-18
Packaged: 2018-05-02 05:24:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5235848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notsowriterly/pseuds/notsowriterly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico’s tattoo faded into a romantic sunset five minutes ago, and was moonily floating around since. Stupid, sappy soulmate. Nico was at a fucking wedding, and he was pretty sure his tattoo wasn’t mooning around. And who did this soulmate think he is, mooning around without Nico to moon over? </p><p>(A Soulmate AU, between two dumb boys.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Are My Sunshine (And I Am Your Skeletal Cat)

Will’s soulmate is sad today. He knows, because the little skeleton kitten on his wrist scampered to his ribs and sat, sulking, against his heart. Will brushes his knuckles over it, fond, and heads off to college.

He promises himself, as he walks off to college, that when he meets his soulmate, the first thing he’ll do is make him laugh.

——

Nico feels terrible. It was a late day at the bar where he worked, and to make it even worse, Percy’s girl friend came to give him company at the bar, and Nico had to watch them pick up eachother’s sentences like a cliche, and absentmindedly run their fingers across their tattoos, bubbling waves crashing against Annabeth’s wrist as Percy laughed at what she said, and a cozy cabin building itself on Percy’s wrist as Annabeth curled against him as they went home.

On his wrist, his sun shined merrily, twinkling, and Nico wanted to scrub the damn thing off. His soulmate was calm and happy all the damn time it seemed. It was such a stupid reminder when he was feeling so shitty.

——

The next day, Nico felt bad for saying so, because his soulmate seemed so tired, his sun gleaming dully if at all. Nico, despite himself, worried, and then felt irritated for worrying. Who cared about his stupid soulmate anyway? He went back to cleaning glasses and ignoring Jason as he talked his ear off about the PoliSci classes he was taking in college.

But somehow, till the end of his shift, he still felt restless.

——

The kitten wouldn’t stop moving. Her bones rattled as she bristled, pacing her way up and down his arm. Will frowned down at her, and she opened her mouth, seeming to meow soundlessly up at him. And then she started licking him. Will sighed, and put his pen down. Maybe it was a sign. His eyes were crossing at the textbook in front of him, and he was ready to drop.

He went to bed, and at last, the skeleton kitty settled down against his chest, purring.

——

A month later, the kitty started crying. Will could hear it, not as a sound, but as a hollowness in his bones, echoing every time she opened her mouth. Will frowned. He’d only seen her close to being this distressed eight years ago. Then she was worse, her cries rocking her bones until they’d almost shattered, and eleven year old Will had gotten so afraid that he’d run to his mother and started crying that his kitten was dying. It took two years for the kitten to come out of her lethargic slump against his chest, and when she did, her moods were much more volatile than before.

Now, Will was afraid what this distress would bring. He murmured to her as if that would calm her down, but she didn’t quiet that much.

The hollowness in his bones lasted through out the day.

——

“We’re getting married!” Percy was beaming. Annabeth, usually at least one variation of fierce, no matter what she was doing, didn’t have a sharp line in her face. Her gray eyes were the color of quicksilver.

Nico was wondering whether it was possible he could lock himself in his room for the rest of the year and never come out. It shouldn’t have surprised him. Annabeth and Percy were in love since they were all kids, and Nico knew this. He had five years worth of experience every day, and yet he still felt hollow at the declaration.

“And Nico, I was wondering…” No. No, no, no. This could not get any worse, Nico’s luck could not be this bad. Percy looked at him hopefully, and Nico knew that whatever he asked, Nico wouldn’t be able to say no. “If you would be one of my groomsmen?”

At least he didn’t say best man. No doubt that title would go to Grover, Percy’s best friend living in the Californian wilderness as an advocate for wildlife preservation. Nico tried to feel better at this small bit of reprieve, but it wasn’t working.

Percy frowned uncertainly. “If you don’t want to, I mean, I know that it’s not–”

Nico shook his head, trying to plaster a smile on his face that didn’t seem thin and fake. “No, no, I’d love to. Honestly. I was just trying to align the idea of Percy in a monkey suit.”

Percy laughed, and they both pulled him in for a hug, and Nico buried his face in Annabeth’s shoulder and tried not cry. On his wrist, the sun peeked worriedly from behind the clouds.

——

Three months later, Nico’s wrist shone bright and bubbling, attracting the stares of the sales clerk that was trying to get him fitted for the suit he was supposed to wear for the engagement party, his first suit since the one he wore to Bianca’s funeral when he was ten. He shot her a dirty look and tugged his sleeves over it. He knew how it looked, this punk looking kid who came in wearing a skull t-shirt that said death to patriarchy in blood red, dripping letters, having such a bright and colorful tattoo.

It’s not Nico’s fault. It’s not like he asked for it.

When he finally picked out a suit and changed back to his shirt, Jason noticed it. His smile grew bright, teasing. “So…someone’s a happy fella aren’t they? I wonder what they’re so happy for?”

Nico scowled at him. “How the fuck am I supposed to know? We don’t all know who our soulmates are.”

“I said I was _pretty sure_  it was Piper from my English gen ed, not that I knew, and Nico, I told you that in confidence–”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Whatever.”

He glanced down at his tattoo, and despite all denials to the contrary, a part of his heart lifted at seeing his soulmate so happy.

——-

Will was having a good streak. He aced his midterm, managed to score an internship that was usually reserved for juniors and seniors, and when he came home, he found out that his friends from camp, Percy and Annabeth were getting married this June.

It was just a good day.

His kitten looked up from where it was licking itself, and then nuzzled his arm, twining around his forearm.

He kissed it on the forehead, and grinned to himself, finding a pen from his bag and checking off the box labeled “RSVP.”

——-

Will’s tattoo would not sit still. It scampered all across his body, pawing at things, barely stopping to nuzzle at him or lick it’s self. Will would blink, and it would go from pawing at his collar bone to running circles around his ankles, chasing his tail. Will looked at it, amused, and then went to his closet, putting on his suit.

He hated to cover up his tattoo, especially when the poor thing was in such a frenzy, but he couldn’t just show up to the wedding stark naked.

He sighed, and tugged on his suit, straightening it. Hopefully his soulmate calmed down soon.

——-

Nico can not calm down. He figured he’d spend the entire wedding in a black hole of misery, but honestly, he doesn’t have  _time_. Some one managed to put him in charge of apparently a million things, cough, cough, _Rachel_ , and he doesn’t have even time to mope. Which, he’s pretty sure, was her plan in the first place.

It is not that great of a plan. He’s pretty positive he might show up to the wedding sweating like a pig, and he’s pretty sure _that_  didn’t go with Rachel’s wedding plan.

Some how, impossibly, he manages to get to his place at the altar on time, standing next to Jason and Frank. Leo’s grinning at them all devilishly from the crowd, and he sends Nico a wink. Nico doesn’t flip him off, only because this is a wedding. He still had some beef to pick with Leo. He’d gone on a world wind traveling spree and finally found his soulmate in a small island in the middle of nowhere that he’d found entirely by accident, and then she wanted to go on another global traveling spree, and neither of them had been accessible enough to be called in as groomsmen. They barely got the invitation for the wedding. But worst of all, Leo left him with  _Jason_  for an entire year.

But now he’s sitting there in the crowd like he doesn’t have a care in the world, a flower peeking through his collar, a bright little sun flower that makes Nico think of his own tattoo, merrily twinkling on his wrist. The girl with him, with the cinnamon colored hair and big brown eyes that Percy hasn’t been able to look in the eye, seems the same kind of melancholy happy that Nico seems to feel. The bronze dragon on her forearm clicks and whirls, twining up and down her arm and giving the couple a mechanical grin.

Despite the torture of being left alone with Jason, Nico can’t help but feel happy that he’s here at all.

——-

Will’s almost late to the wedding. He gets ushered in by a girl with choppy hair braided through with a feather, wearing a blue dress that he’s pretty sure is a bridesmaid dress. His tattoo, when he checks, is settled, purring against his wrist.

He tugs it down, and focuses on the ceremony. They look amazing, Percy and Annabeth, glowing compared to the last time he saw them. When Annabeth arrives, her blonde hair curled up on the back of her head, her smile so bright it rivals the sun, shining through the church windows. Percy has his hands over his mouth, and he’s smiling so wide you can practically see through it through his hands.

He can see what must be Percy’s mother and step father in the front seat. Mrs. Jackson is squeezing her husbands hand tight as she beams at her son.

All of it makes Will’s heart melt, and once again, he presses a kiss to his own tattoo, and imagines what it’d be like, in a couple of years, for him to be at the altar with his soulmate, feeling this kind of happiness. It’s unimaginable.

Finally Percy bends Annabeth backward in a kiss, and her tattoo floods her arm in a tsunami, rolling in the type of extreme joy that’s once in a life time. Will can see the peeks of a building building against Percy’s neck, and he can see the love affecting others’ tattoos as well, The bridesmaid’s tattoos scampering up their arms.

He looks to the groomsmen, as they’re getting up to watch Percy and Annabeth run down the aisle, laughing, and he sees the flash of black before he turns back to the bride and groom, whistling and hooting with the rest of the audience.

——-

Will’s trying not to blatantly check out one of the groomsmen, and probably succeeding, because the guy hasn’t looked at Will once, instead leaning against the table behind him and smiling softly as he watches the couples whirling around on the floor. He doesn’t dance himself though, Will sees, no matter who asks, and the fiery red head looks more than ready to drag him onto the floor when Will finally gets the courage to go up and ask.

“Nico, I swear to god, if you don’t–”

“May I have this dance?” Will asks. They both look up at him. The red head looks vaguely irritated, but Nico looks relieved.

“Um, I’m sorry, but I was just about to dance with my friend–” the red head starts, but Will shakes his head.

“Don’t get me wrong, you’re beautiful, and I’d love to have another dance but…” He dares to cast a look at Nico, who’s crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow, which isn’t particularly reassuring. “I was kind of asking him.”

The red head brightens. “Great! Then it’s up to you to get him to dance, and I can hunt you down if he doesn’t.” She smiles an absolutely terrifying smile, and flounces off, spinning a nearby guy into her arms.

Will turns to Nico, heart in his throat, and Nico doesn’t change his blatantly unimpressed look. This isn’t going to go well.

—–

Nico’s tattoo faded into a romantic sunset five minutes ago, and was moonily floating around since. Stupid, sappy soulmate. Nico was at a fucking wedding, and he was pretty sure his tattoo wasn’t mooning around. And who did this soulmate think he is, mooning around without Nico to moon over? And now this stupidly pretty blonde was asking him for a dance as if he could do the job that half the bridal party had already tried to do, and Nico was very cross.

He gave his most aloof look. “I’m not dancing.”

“Not even if I ask you nicely?”

Nico’s eyebrow raised higher. “No.”

“And there’s nothing I can do to convince you?”

“None.”

“Even if I tell you that I’ve been wondering how to get you out of that suit ever since I saw you at the reception?”

Nico choked, and went abruptly bright red, and the blonde looked pleased. “ _What?_ ”

“It was worth a shot. Though it’s true.” The blonde shrugs like it’s no big deal, and Nico narrows his eyes, actually taking the guy in. He is beautiful, in a weirdly imperfect type way. Bright, halo like hair. A smile that somehow manages to be smug and nervous at the same time. And Nico turns redder as he realizes that  _wow, this guy can really pull of a suit_.

Nico holds out his hand, and the guy looks at him, taken off guard. “Well? You said you wanted a dance didn’t you?”

The guy wordlessly pulls him up, and Nico leads him into the dance floor, pulling him close, and he can see the guy’s eyes go dark as he looks down at him. It’s kind of intoxicating, that he has such an affect on the guy.

“So…What’s your name?” Nico says conversationally, his finger drawing distracting circles on the small of the guy’s back.

“It’s Will.” He sounds breathless, and Nico grins to himself as he leans up to exhale a breath against Will’s ear, just to hear Will’s breath stutter.

“So…Will. Tell me. What exactly were you going to do to get me out of my suit?” Nico asks, low and husky. Will’s hand tightens on his.

Will looks a bit strangled, but he still manages to say, “I was hoping it started with a dance.”

Nico laughs. “It doesn’t. It might start with a date, if you ask me nicely.”

Will looks at him steadily, and Nico’s teasing facade drops, just a bit. And then Will asks softly, “Please?”

——

Nico arches up against Will, tugging on his shirt to get it off, god,  _off_. “You know, I wasn’t actually planning on putting out on the first date,” Nico says breathlessly, and Will presses a kiss against his neck, making a curious noise. He bites down then, and Nico gasps. “ _Fuck_ , but then you looked like  _that_ , and I just–”

“God stop talking, you’re driving me  _insane_ –” Will bit out, and then finally Will’s shirt was off, and Nico caught sight of the tattoo vibrating against his chest, and stopped dead in his tracks. He sat up from underneath Will, and Will tensed, pulling back. Nico grabbed his arm, keeping him where he was, and Will looked at him, confused. “What?”

“That’s mine,” Nico said wonderingly.

Will froze. “What?”

Nico met his eyes. “I know it, Will,  _that’s my tattoo_.”

Will grabbed Nico’s wrist, pushing up Nico’s sleeve to see the sunny tattoo, and exhaled, pressing a hand against his mouth. “That’s mine too, god, _Nico_ –”

And then suddenly they were laughing and kissing, and falling back against the bed pulling off eachother’s shirts and pressing against eachother’s skin.

And when they were done, their tattoos humming against eachother, Will held Nico’s face in his hands, pressing his forehead to his like a promise. “I could grow to love you,” he said, like a confession, and Nico smiled, pressing a hand against Will’s tattoo.

“I could grow to love you too.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Oh wow. I really loved writing this. Like really loved writing this. Why can’t I just write emotions in terms of tattoos? Honestly, that would make writing so much easier. 
> 
> And you guys have absolutely no idea how close this fic's title was a cliche. How do you name things again?


End file.
